


Behind His Eyes

by OverlyCheerfulRat



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Cerebral Palsy, Disability, Disabled Character, F/M, Hospitals, M/M, Period Typical Attitudes, Period-Typical Homophobia, Physical Disability, institution
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-22 10:50:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21300845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OverlyCheerfulRat/pseuds/OverlyCheerfulRat
Summary: The year is 1952, and Percival Graves is the head nurse of ward three in an institution for mentally and physically disabled people. When he becomes close to a new patient, they must hide their relationship not only from the abusive institution director, but from everyone else around them.
Relationships: Original Percival Graves/Newt Scamander, Queenie Goldstein/Jacob Kowalski
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	Behind His Eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [realisations](https://archiveofourown.org/users/realisations/gifts).

> yeehaw buckaroos, i'm still alive. list of characters and disabilities: 
> 
> Luna Lovegood, female, 15. Autistic, schizophrenic.  
Fred and George Weasley, male, 17. Conjoined twins.  
Jacob Kowalski, male, 31. Down syndrome.  
Queenie Goldstein, female, 26. Angelman syndrome, ataxia, arrhythmia.  
Credence Barebone, male, 20. Myotonic dystrophy, severe anxiety disorder, selective mutism.  
Lavender Brown, female, 16. Clubfoot.  
Newt Scamander, 28, male. Cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy.

The wizarding community had no place for imperfections of any kind. Disabled people- they weren’t witches or wizards, not them-were to be humanely stored away, out of sight. Stored in institutions like the one Percival Graves worked at. He was the head nurse of ward three, not a prestigious position but one he liked. There weren’t many patients to look after, only eight, in fact. Their disabilities weren’t all severe, but according to the wizarding health board, any physical or mental disability meant you were useless and unteachable.

But some of the patients didn’t seem to have any mental disorders, at least none that Percival could see. There were the twins, Fred and George Weasley, who were sociable and clever, and would have been perfectly normal were they not conjoined at the chest. Lavender Brown only had a clubfoot, and was otherwise a happy enough teenage girl. There were others he wasn't so sure about, though.

Luna Lovegood had intelligent eyes, but babbled constantly about nonsense. Credence Barebone seemed to understand what people said to him, but he either couldn’t or wouldn’t respond, and he cried so easily. Jacob and Queenie were definitely simple, Percival thought, but that wasn’t a bad thing. They both seemed happier than his other patients, actually, and Queenie frequently told anyone who would listen that they were married.

When it came to the new patient, Percival had no idea. His name was Newton Scamander, and at first the only thing Percival felt for him was pity. Pity for the beautiful young man with his emaciated legs pulled to his chest in the fetal position, pity for the twitching in his limbs and the fear in his eyes.

His older brother, Theseus, explained that he couldn’t continue to care for him at home. “He likes to be called Newt, and he loves animals. He’s not very excited to be in a new place,” Theseus said, almost yelling over the increasingly hysterical noises his brother was making. Newt was then put into a room with Credence, and his obvious terror made the younger boy begin to sob. It took hours to calm both of them down again. 

After a few days, Newt seemed to have adjusted to the institution well enough. Credence obviously didn’t like him- he hid his face and whimpered when Newt had seizures, and seemed scared of his occasional random spasms. Queenie and Jacob, of course, were nothing but welcoming; the first day Percival took Newt into the common room, they hurried over in delight at a new face. Jacob shook Newt’s trembling hand, while Queenie eagerly introduced herself (“Queenie, I’m Queenie!”) and Jacob (“That’s my husband, my husband Jacob!”). 

The twins introduced themselves as well, Luna didn’t even notice Newt was there, and Lavender wrinkled her nose in disgust at the drool running down his chin but gave a cold “hello” anyway. She had always tried to distance herself from the other patients- she only had a bad foot, she was almost normal. Not stupid like Queenie and Jacob, not insane like Luna, not a baby like Credence, and not a circus freak like Fred and George. Just a regular girl with a limp. She could have even gone to Hogwarts, she thought.

Percival had always tried to have everyone get along, and for the most part they did, aside from Lavender’s superiority complex. It was a bit harder to get Credence adjusted to Newt. Credence was afraid of almost everyone at the institution, with the exception of George and Percival himself. 

When he first came to the institution at ten years old, Credence had been put in a room with the twins, who had been there since infancy. He panicked at the sight of their body (bodies?), separate and together all at once, and while Fred was hurt by his fear and refused to interact with him, George would quietly talk to him at night, when Credence couldn’t see them. Eventually, Credence got used to them and often clung to George’s hand when he was nervous. He nearly had a breakdown when they got pneumonia and were moved to a private room.

As for Percival, Credence saw him as a father, and got upset if anyone else tried to help him. He had followed him around like a puppy until his leg muscles deteriorated and he was forced into a wheelchair. Percival had thought it would be good for him to have a new person around, but he hadn’t taken Newt’s cerebral palsy and Credence’s fear of sudden movement into account when making the decision.

Newt, for his part, seemed perfectly fine with Credence, although it was sort of hard to tell. He didn’t scream when Credence approached him, at least, and apparently tried to keep as still as possible. Hopefully, they’d eventually become friends, Percival thought.


End file.
